Film premiering Friday in Carlsbad focuses on challenges facing adults with autism

For most young parents, receiving the news that their toddler child is on the autism spectrum is devastating. But an even bigger challenge awaits these parents 20 to 30 years down the road when these children have grown into adults with nowhere to go.

That's the focus of "Aging Out," a 32-minute documentary that will premiere Friday night, Nov. 22, at the Carlsbad City Library'sSchulman Auditorium. The film was written, directed and produced by Carlsbad filmmaker Melissa Collins-Porter, who is the mother of an adult son with autism.

In the film, Collins-Porter examines the challenges parents like herself face when they search for affordable housing, meaningful work, recreation, social and other support services for the special-needs adult children who will likely outlive them. And the problem is growing exponentially. A 2016 study by the California Department of Education found that more than 97,000 students in California public schools had an autism diagnosis, which was seven times the number recorded in 2001.

While Collins-Porter said California is far more progressive than most other states in providing services to adults with autism, it's not nearly enough to meet the demand, according to Jill Escher, who is president of the San Francisco Bay Area Autism Society and the parent of a child with autism.

"There are so many needs for these people, 24/7, 365 days a year, that need to be covered, so falling off a cliff is a term that's more often used than just aging out," Escher says in the film.

In California, the public school system provides extensive services to students with autism up to the age of 22. Then the federally funded Regional Centers for the Developmentally Disabled take over, but their funding is more limited. As a result, Collins-Porter said, it's not lawmakers who are coming up with solutions for adults with autism, it's the parents themselves.

Some of these parent-led solutions are group homes or "intentional" communities where adults with autism can live together affordably. There are also daytime social, recreational and vocational activity centers run by organizations like Teri Inc. of Oceanside.

"Solutions are happening and parents are driving this, but we're exhausted," Collins-Porter said. "That's why the rest of society needs to learn about this and step up because we're tired."

In one scene of the film, parent and activist Anna Wang, who is building an intentional community in the Bay Area, said she once received a call from an 87-year-old mother in a wheelchair who was desperate to find permanent housing for her 65-year-old live-in son with autism. But the waiting list for spots in communities like this is 10 to 20 years.

Collins-Porter — who has taught film studies at MiraCosta College in Oceanside for the past 18 years — said she was inspired to make "Aging Out" back in 2015 when she began wondering and worrying about what the future held for her now-19-year-old son, Liam, who was diagnosed with autism in 2005.

Over several years, the film follows three North County families who have children with autism in their late teens to early 20s, including her own.

Profiled in the film are San Marcos residents Scott and Mary Beyer, whose adult son, Sam, now attends community college and is in an adult transition program. But Sam has communication challenges, is not able to live on his own or work at a traditional job and he has difficulty making friends. The Beyers say in the film that they expect Sam to live with them as along as they're physically able to care for him.

Also profiled is Mehreen Hussain, a single mother who lives in Carlsbad with her two adult children with autism: Minaa, 23, and Zain, 21. Minaa is taking life skills and computer classes at MiraCosta and volunteers at local senior and women's resource centers. Zain, who is nonverbal, is in an adult transition program and is learning sign language and typing to communicate.

Collins-Porter said Hussain's story "has no happy ending," but she thinks it's important for the public to see Hussain's resilience as well as how her situation reflects what is happening in thousands of households across the country.

"It was very brave of her to open up her family like that but she wants people to know," Collins-Porter said. "She's just the coolest lady. Life can beat people down but she just gets right back up again."

Originally, Collins-Porter planned to make "Aging Out" a feature-length film, but when the movie's Kickstarter funding ran out a few years ago, she and her film editor decided to use the footage they had to make a shorter, half-hour film. They got the money to finish the film from the city of Carlsbad, which provided a cultural arts grant in return for the rights to premiere the film for a local audience.

In 2020, Collins-Porter said she will focus on getting "Aging Out" screened at film festivals nationwide in hopes of broadening the public's knowledge about this little-known but growing problem. She would also like to make another film someday about the siblings of disabled people, who are often drawn into healing and educational careers because of their childhood experience.

The screening of "Aging Out" is at 6 p.m. Friday at the Schulman Auditorium, 1775 Dove Lane in Carlsbad. It will be followed by a question-and-answer session. Admission is free. For more details on the film, visit agingoutmovie.com.

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